self-fulfilling prophecy

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self-fulfilling prophecy

self-fulfilling prophecy a concept developed by Robert K. Merton to explain how a belief or expectation, whether correct or not, affects the outcome of a situation or the way a person (or group) will behave. Thus, for example, labeling someone a "criminal," and treating that person as such, may foster criminal behavior in the person who is subjected to the expectation.

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self-fulfilling prophecy

A Dictionary of Sociology | 1998 | | Â© A Dictionary of Sociology 1998, originally published by Oxford University Press 1998. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

self-fulfilling prophecy A concept introduced into sociology by Robert Merton (see his Social Theory and Social Structure, 1957)
, and allied to William Isaac Thomas's earlier and famous theorem that ‘when people define situations as real, they become real in their consequences’. Merton suggests the self-fulfilling prophecy is an important and basic process in society, arguing that ‘in the beginning, a false definition of the situation evokes a new behaviour which makes the originally false conception come true. [It] perpetuates a reign of error’. See also SELF-DESTROYING PROPHECY; UNINTENDED OR UNANTICIPATED CONSEQUENCES.

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GORDON MARSHALL. "self-fulfilling prophecy." A Dictionary of Sociology. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. 18 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

GORDON MARSHALL. "self-fulfilling prophecy." A Dictionary of Sociology. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. (December 18, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O88-selffulfillingprophecy.html

GORDON MARSHALL. "self-fulfilling prophecy." A Dictionary of Sociology. 1998. Retrieved December 18, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O88-selffulfillingprophecy.html

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